City of Tshwane executive mayor Randall Williams lambasted municipal workers for the destruction caused in the town’s central business district, on Friday.
City of Tshwane takes municipal union to court
In a statement, the mayor confirmed that courts have been approached to file an interdict against the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) “after members of the union disrupted services and interrupted service delivery”
“It is disappointing that despite responding to the matters raised by SAMWU that they submitted on wage increases, that there are SAMWU members in the city that have instead opted to disrupt the work of the municipality,” Williams wrote.
Municipal workers in Tshwane have been picketing since Thursday, after it was brought to their attention that salary increases promised three years ago would not be implemented.
It’s also reported that the City informed its workers that insurance benefits would be reduced to save costs.
According to Williams, however, talks have been ongoing between SAMWU and the City yet, for some reason, a faction of disgruntled workers took to the streets on a destructive and illegal protest.
The mayor confirmed that apart from the interdict application, the municipality would also pursue civil litigation against SAMWU for the damages incurred by the Tshwane metro as a result of Friday’s violent demonstrations.
“The city will thus be approaching the courts for an interdict against this unlawful labour action. We will also be initiating civil litigation against SAMWU for the wasteful costs incurred as a result of this unlawful strike,” Mayor Williams warned.
These are some of the videos of the destruction that rendered the Tshwane CBD inoperable on Friday:
Pretoria CBD – multiple roads closed – HEAVY TRAFFIC #SAMWU pic.twitter.com/ybL6WqyWrF
— Rob Beezy (@TrafficSA) October 22, 2021
Avoid Tshwane CBD ANC gangsters are burning it pic.twitter.com/kr6eld8Y6X
— 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐚𝐤𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐢 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 🇿 (@Rakgadi_EM) October 22, 2021